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Open House Chicago 2018

As a student who likes to keep himself immersed in his laptop either studying or watching videos, experiencing the Open House was an insightful experience. Chicago is considered as one of the most architectural cities of the world, and on Sunday I just came to know why.

Just to give a brief background of Open House Chicago (or simply OHC), many offices and cultural institutions open up their doors to the general public free-of-cost for the weekend. It was really splendid to see so many people flock on the weekend to get a glimpse of this beautiful city from a different angle. One of the few buildings that I visited on Sunday was Blue Cross Blue Shield Tower at the intersection of Randolph Street and N Columbus Drive. Trust me, the view from the 30th floor (the permissible floor limit open to the general public) just takes your breath away. Old and young, everyone just wanted to get the glimpse of the panoramic view which was on display extending from Lake Michigan on the left and to the Willis Tower (or Sears Tower) and the right - not to forget about the Cloud Gate. I had never seen anything like that from the top! The sun-kissed Bean was a sight not to be missed.

I have visited the downtown area at various times of the day in the past two months, but the perspective that I got from this building was simply phenomenal. Professional photographers armed with their lenses took some spectacular pictures of the view being offered up, while my friends and I were busy taking selfies, portraits, and uploading stories on various social media pages. It was hard to leave that place, but we had to cover some more places on our radar, so we went to the next stop at the London House. Unfortunately, we reached there a little too late, so we decided to move on and go to the Langham, which was just across the river.

The Langham was diagonally across from the London House, and I believe it offered a truly beautiful view of the Chicago River to Lake Michigan. The view on offer was really mesmerizing - especially the boats and the water taxis coming in and out from the lake. So, after a brief session at the Langham and visiting various other spots, we finally arrived at 151 Franklin Street. This time around we were on the 35th floor and surrounding by other high-rises, with Willis (Sears) Tower in the background. The best part was the fact that it was a rooftop view with the temperatures dropping; the breeze and the setting sun provided a splendid view for the visitors. But as good times have to come to an end, we had to leave before we could see the sunset.

Overall, a Sunday well-spent with friends and the views from Open House Chicago was an awesome experience for us all, and we are eagerly looking for the next one to come soon. A piece of advice for all of those who missed it: please keep aside a weekend for this once-a-year experience. It would give you a different perspective to look at this city, and it would surprise everyone. Truly, you need to see it to believe it.